TOILETS near Stafford's Shopmobility centre are being used as a drug den by junkies.

And workers at the Broad Street centre say the fact keys for the toilet are readily available from Staffordshire Borough Council's tourist office are making the situation worse.

Staff at the centre, which caters for people with long and short-term mobility problems, said they regularly see addicts visiting the toilets next to their premises.

One woman, who did not wish to be named for fear of reprisals, said: "We are always seeing them going up and down past the shop. A knife was found in the guttering above the disabled toilet.

"The police said they had been using it to cut up the drugs. It's illegal to carry a knife like that so I suppose they hid it there."

Derek Boult, vice chairman of Stafford and District Access Group said: "There's a lot of drugs and antisocial behaviour going on down there."

He said council officers were often called out to remove drugs paraphernalia from the toilets and the surrounding area.

"You need a Radar key to get into the toilets. You used to have to state you had a disability but now druggies can get hold of them and they are using the WC as a den. They know they won't be disturbed.

"These toilets are for people with disabilities. People do not want to go down there if there are needles. But I blame it on the system that just allows people to just go and buy them."

He added: "I do believe they should have to prove they have a disability. A Radar key is specifically for one purpose but I have seen youngsters with them."

Stafford Borough Council strategic director David Pinnock said: "We take issues of disability and accessibility very seriously and we will be reviewing our procedures.

"We need to strike a balance between allowing people with disabilities the use of these facilities and trying to safeguard them from misuse. It is very unfortunate that people who should not be using the toilets are taking advantage of facilities designed to help those with disabilities."